1. Technical Field
The invention relates to a printing method, a printing apparatus and a print producing method.
2. Related Art
Some printing apparatuses print out a large number of unit images on a continuous medium (for example, roll of paper). In the above printing apparatuses, unit images are printed so that they are aligned in a continuous direction in which the medium is continuous. A known typical printing apparatus among those printing apparatuses alternately repeats a transport operation in which a continuous medium is transported in the continuous direction and an image forming operation in which a head forms an image on the continuous medium transported to a printing area while the head is being moved.
The above printing apparatus defines an area (maximum printing area) on a continuous medium, which is printable through one image forming operation. For this reason, a printing apparatus has been suggested, which determines the size of an area printed through one image forming operation on the basis of the maximum number (N) of unit images that can be printed in the maximum printing area. According to the above printing apparatus, N unit images are printed through one image forming operation without leaving a margin in a direction in which a continuous medium is continuous (see JP-A-2003-291426).
The printing apparatus described in JP-A-2003-291426, however, leaves a margin in the width direction of the continuous medium having a predetermined width.